A Course on Evolution and Faith

What happens when a young person who believes in God studies evolution? Read this first-hand account to discover what happened to one college freshman.

by Leslie Schwartz

Starting college is a major transitional stage in one's life. For me, it was a time filled with both excitement and nervous apprehension. For months I had been dreaming about what the experience would be like—what my dorm would look like, how the food would taste and all the classes I would take. I was especially excited about the last one; I had so many options when it came to planning my schedule—physics, sociology, political science, engineering, theater, classics, English composition—the list seemed endless.

So when my Church friends in my local congregation and from across the country asked me what I was taking and I replied, "Education, psychology and evolution," red lights automatically started flashing in their heads. "Evolution—why would she want to take that if she had so many other options!" many of them thought, and even a few of them outwardly questioned. To some, it sounded wrong and ungodly. To me, it made perfect sense.

Throughout my schooling experience I was one of the lucky high school students who never had to deal with an overly liberal biology teacher forcing the theory of evolution down my throat, so I never really understood the concepts that formed its framework. I have always believed that education is one of the most powerful tools one can utilize, and that it is not only ignorant, but wrong to say you don't believe something without thoroughly understanding why and what exactly you don't believe.

I knew and had been taught throughout the years that evolution was wrong, and that I shouldn't believe it, but I didn't know the different pieces that built up this supposedly scientific theory of our existence. I was on a quest for knowledge, and thought college would be the perfect opportunity to further this journey.

(Of course, this isn't for everybody. There are other ways to get this knowledge, such as starting with the booklets Life's Ultimate Question: Does God Exist? and Creation or Evolution: Does It Really Matter What You Believe? and following up with some of the many books on the subject—see "The Case Against Evolution" at www.ucg.org/ vt/fall2003/evolution.htm. But I wanted to get the information straight from the horse's mouth—or in the lion's den, so to speak.)

Read the full article at www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn52/evolutionfaith.htm

Related Information on UCG Sites:

Table of Contents that includes "A Course on Evolution and Faith"
Other Articles by Leslie Schwartz
Re-published from an earlier version

Evolution and religion:

Evolution and politics/education:

Teens and education:

Search Our Site
Key Subjects Index
General Topics Index
Biblical References Index
Good News Magazine Index
Booklets and All Literature Index
Home Page of this site